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Pizza - I can't do any better than last night

TTC
TTC Posts: 1,035

Team effort pizza party last night with some friends from our kids school, one of whom is an experienced XL owner. We made 4 pies, and grazed on each one as it came off. I love that kind of party, no formal sit down just cooking, relaxing, eating/drinking.

Followed Forno Bravo dough recipe for 00 flour. Made a day ahead for long rest in fridge. Cheese mix was mozzarella, fontina, and sharp provolone. Used salted pureed San Marzano canned tomatoes.

Plate setter legs down, 3 fire bricks as spacers, then pizza stone. I use parchment when doing multiple pies - I like to get all my doughs stretched out first so I'm not hip deep in flour all night.

First pie was classic Margherita imageimage Next pie was arugula, prosciutto, parmesean. Then drizzled with a balsamic reductionimageimage

Third pie was sausage, portobella mushroom, shallot, and smoked  goudaimage


Forth and final pie was BBQ chicken. BBQ sauce, chicken thighs, sun dried tomatoes, shallot, smoked gouda, and prosciutto image We had a lovely evening, and it was soooooooo nice to have a fellow egghead to help make and cook the pies.

XL BGE, Blackstone, Roccbox, Weber Gasser, Brown Water, Cigars --  Gallatin, TN

2001 Mastercraft Maristar 230 VRS

Ikon pass 

Colorado in the winter and the Lake in the Summer

Comments

  • boochsr71
    boochsr71 Posts: 267
    Great looking pies!!!

    Booch- from Medina, Ohio

  • jcaspary
    jcaspary Posts: 1,479
    Good food, good company, and an Egg.  What more could you ask for???  Pizza's look fantastic.  I made Margherita pizza the last time and loved it.  Surprised as I am a tried and true carnivore.
    XL BGE, LG BGE, and a hunger to grill everything in sight!!!
    Joe- Strongsville, OH
  • MeTed
    MeTed Posts: 800
    @TTC Those pies look awesome and it sounds like you had a great night. Thanks for the post!
    Belleville, Michigan

    Just burnin lump in Sumpter
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Beautiful pies, great ingredient combos. Love 00!

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • Cookinbob
    Cookinbob Posts: 1,691
    Out of the park! Awesome =D>
    XLBGE, Small BGE, Homebrew and Guitars
    Rochester, NY
  • byrne092
    byrne092 Posts: 746
    Those look great! What temp did you cook em at?
    XL, Medium BGE & Blackstone I XAR-Woo2 & Rig-BO Flameboss 500

    St. Louis, MO
  • TTC
    TTC Posts: 1,035

    Thanks all for the compliments.

    Egg was in the 500-550 range, I have had more than a few pizza failures at the super high temps so I go a little longer at lower temp.


    XL BGE, Blackstone, Roccbox, Weber Gasser, Brown Water, Cigars --  Gallatin, TN

    2001 Mastercraft Maristar 230 VRS

    Ikon pass 

    Colorado in the winter and the Lake in the Summer
  • Phatchris
    Phatchris Posts: 1,726
    Looks awesome ! :D
  • westernbbq
    westernbbq Posts: 2,490

    Those are money

     

    as I've been attempting to get good or great results making pizza on the BGE, all early research indicated that the hotter the egg, the better.  There were many indications that 700-900 degrees F was the way to go.  I would try this and end up with burned underside of pizza with barely cooked tops

     

    on a recent cook, I decided to try the lower temperature- 550 F and it worked better than I ever thought possible.  Perfectly browned crust, bubbling cheese and dough up top. 

     

    Glad to see someone else making za's with lower temperatures.

  • You nailed those.
    Live on beautiful Lake Hartwell GA
  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,660
    They look perfect!

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
  • texaswig
    texaswig Posts: 2,682
    Man those look killer. I'm also a fan of the Parchment.

    2-XLs ,MM,blackstone,Ooni koda 16,R&V works 8.5 gallon fryer,express smoker and 40" smoking cajun 

    scott 
    Greenville Tx
  • TN2TX
    TN2TX Posts: 298
    Great looking pies. I haven't tried one on my LBGE yet, but it sounds like you pulled it off flawlessly. I might try one this week. Where did you say you got the recipe for your dough? 
    Dallas, TX
  • Wow! Those look fantastic. That sausage, portobella, shallot, Gouda pizza is making me drool all over my phone =P~
  • mcmac
    mcmac Posts: 496
    Ya... from the looks of it, Id say its going to be hard to top those. Nice job.
    XL BGE -  Med BGE - Mini BGE - Traeger Pellet Grills

     Hillsboro OR
  • TTC
    TTC Posts: 1,035

    Thanks.

    @westernbbq - I just cant get my egg to hold 600-800 degrees, its either on its way to nuclear or cooling down. It may make a better pie but my XL just holds 550 perfectly so that's where I cook.

    Two things pushed these pies over the top; 1) I inadvertently let the stone heat up forever - 2 full hours at 475, and 2) my fellow egghead. He gets all the credit for the cooking, as he was managing the egg and cooking the pies while I made them and served them. Until last night, none of my guests were familiar with egging. We Egg nerds enjoy paying attention tot the little details.

    XL BGE, Blackstone, Roccbox, Weber Gasser, Brown Water, Cigars --  Gallatin, TN

    2001 Mastercraft Maristar 230 VRS

    Ikon pass 

    Colorado in the winter and the Lake in the Summer
  • CPARKTX
    CPARKTX Posts: 2,095
    Perfection.
    LBGE & SBGE.  Central Texas.  
  • westernbbq
    westernbbq Posts: 2,490
    TTC said:

    Thanks.

    @westernbbq - I just cant get my egg to hold 600-800 degrees, its either on its way to nuclear or cooling down. It may make a better pie but my XL just holds 550 perfectly so that's where I cook.

    Two things pushed these pies over the top; 1) I inadvertently let the stone heat up forever - 2 full hours at 475, and 2) my fellow egghead. He gets all the credit for the cooking, as he was managing the egg and cooking the pies while I made them and served them. Until last night, none of my guests were familiar with egging. We Egg nerds enjoy paying attention tot the little details.


    my XL seems to be able to get really hot (900 plus) while my lg has never been above 600.  I've never really tried to get it hotter but the firebox is so small that I think there are limits-unless you've got the perfect sice nat lump that can really heat up.

     

    On the stone heating up- that's another 'trick' ive learned.  I also learned to pre-ferment the yeast in 100 degree h2o and to put purified ICE COLD water when mixing the dough.  letting it rest overnite in fridge and then letting it sit out of fridge about 2 hrs or so before cooking it has helped a ton.

  • grill4us
    grill4us Posts: 100
    The pies look amazing!
  • 4Runner
    4Runner Posts: 2,948
    Tasty looking. Love the combos too. Thanks for sharing.
    Joe - I'm a reformed gasser-holic aka 4Runner Columbia, SC Wonderful BGE Resource Site: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm and http://www.nibblemethis.com/  and http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/02/recipes.html
    What am I drinking now?   Woodford....neat
  • JethroVA
    JethroVA Posts: 1,251
    Bookmarked. Thank you and the others above for the tips. You inspired me to make my first pizza on the egg this week.
    Richmond and Mathews County, VA. Large BGE, Weber gas, little Weber charcoal. Vintage ManGrates. Little reddish portable kamado that shall remain nameless here.  Very Extremely Stable Genius. 
  • Dig it! I think the last pie was my favorite.
    In the  Hinterlands between Cumming and Gainesville, GA
    Med BGE, Weber Kettle, Weber Smokey Joe, Brinkman Dual Zone, Weber Genesis Gas Grill and portable gasser for boating
  • GeorgeS
    GeorgeS Posts: 955
    Damn did you point to where the ball was going over the fence? Nice pies!!
    Bristow Virginia XL&Mini One of the best feelings in life is watching other people enjoy the food I cooked!
  • KenfromMI
    KenfromMI Posts: 742
    I agree on the temperature. I gave up on very high heat myself after burning crusts. I do mine for exactly 12 minutes at 450 degrees and gave up on trying to make a 5 minute pizza. I keep it at 450 degrees and can make pizza after pizza with no problems.

    Dearborn MI
  • anzyegg
    anzyegg Posts: 1,104
    Great looking pizza for sure.... Nice ingredients and cook...
  • KiterTodd
    KiterTodd Posts: 2,466
    edited August 2014
    TTC said:

    .... We made 4 pies, and grazed on each one as it came off. I love that kind of party, no formal sit down just cooking, relaxing, eating/drinking.

    ..We had a lovely evening, and it was soooooooo nice to have a fellow egghead to help make and cook the pies.
    Can't agree with you more!   An evening like that, specially if you have someone else to cook with who enjoys it as much as you do, is a rare thing.  As much as I like cooking for others, it's a bit more work and less time enjoying the guests.  Now, if you can enjoy the cooking with your guests, even better!

    We used to have appetizer parties hwere everybody brings an appetizer with them and is encouraged to cook/prep at the house.  It's like a cooking show happening around you.   It kind of fell apart as more and more people seemed to miss the point and buy prepared food or take-out from somewhere else. They'd think they were doing a favor by buying some nice sushi, but were missing the point of the evening.   And then there were the ones who'd just bring a bag of chips and jar of salsa...  :-t

    Pizza's look great by the way.  I too have had good luck from 500-600.  When I go hotter it's a little dicey.  You pretty much just need to go a little hotter than most household ovens can get, then you're good!
    LBGE/Maryland
  • tulocay
    tulocay Posts: 1,737
    Great looking pies!
    LBGE, Marietta, GA
  • Chkultr
    Chkultr Posts: 31
    Those looked fantastic! I made another round of pies for some friends. They said hands down the best pie they have had! We did our version of a supreme. I marinated the veggies in some Tuscan Herb EVOO from our local Oil Shoppe along with some Italian seasonings. Got the BGE up to 650* and cooked for 8 minutes! Only issue I am having is the dome seems to pull back when cooking at those temps. I can not get it re adjusted and the hinge bolts not tighten. My BGE isn't even 3 months old! Has anyone else had this issue while cooking at these high temps? Thanks in advance.
    1 Large BGE 2 Extra Large BGE 1Kamado Joe Jr. 1 36”Blackstone griddle 1 The Good One The Marshall
  • Those look amazing.  When I was a poor student, I used to make my own pies dough and all.  Haven't tried it on the egg, mostly b/c I don't want to mess with the dough -- even store bought seems like a hassle.  Seems like the best answer is a long fridge rest to aid in stretching and not sticking.  A post like yours definitely weakens my resistance. 
    It's a 302 thing . . .